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The Thermal Expansion Valve: A Feature to Seriously Consider When You're Getting Your Next A/CIf you're looking into installing a new A/C or heat pump in your South Bay Peninsula or Santa Cruz home, selecting a unit that includes a thermal expansion valve is something to seriously consider. A thermal expansion valve, sometimes referred to as a thermostatic expansion valve, TXV or TEV, will allow your cooling system to operate more efficiently, more economically and will likely increase your system's reliability and longevity.

The thermal expansion valve, which is a metering device, controls the flow of refrigerant to the evaporator coils in response to the ever-changing cooling load (or cooling requirements) in your home. The specific cooling load is affected by various factors, including:

Outdoor temperature

Sun intensity

Indoor activity

Use of heat-generating appliances/fixtures

There is a small, refrigerant-filled bulb between the evaporator coils, which are responsible for absorbing heat from the indoor air, and the TVX. This sensing bulb alerts the expansion valve to rising or falling temperatures (cooling load). Based on this information, the valve then opens or closes, as needed, to allow either more or less refrigerant to flow into the coils, depending on current cooling requirements. It operates similarly to the pupil in your eyeball, which opens and closes in adjustment to the amount of light present at any given moment.

SEER, which stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ration, is the standard by which air conditioners are rated for efficiency. Higher SEER ratings equate to more efficient equipment that require less energy to produce a specific amount of cooling output. With the minimum rating for air conditioners manufactured after January 23, 2006, now being a SEER 13, these systems are 30 percent more efficient than those of just a few years ago with typical SEER rating of 10.

The inclusion of a thermal expansion valve increases an A/C's efficiency, allowing it to achieve a higher SEER rating, while saving energy and lowering your utility bills.

Family owned and operated Valley Heating, Cooling and Electrical has been serving Silicon Valley and surrounding areas since 1962. Visit our website for in-depth information on most HVAC topics or just give us a call at 408-294-6290.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the South Bay Peninsula and Santa Cruz areas of California about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about thermal expansion valves and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.Image courtesy of Shutterstock